DEC 11 ---THE House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved on
third and final reading a resolution granting special powers to President
Benigno Aquino III to address a supposed power shortage, but the measure
faces rough sailing in the Senate with the opposition of Senator Sergio
Osmeña III. The House approved Joint Resolution No. 1 via acclamation on
second reading and 149 lawmakers later voted for the resolution’s passage
over the objections of 18 congressmen, like Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares,
who said the resolution allowed the suspension of environmental laws. But
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee on
energy and co-chair the Joint Congressional Power Commission, said the
approved powers would be limited to the use of the Interruptible Load
Program that was already being implemented anyway. Besides, Umali said they
ensured that consumers will not have to pay extra when the government’s
power reserves fall below the usual requirement around March next year. “We
approved the emergency powers with a ‘no pass-on’ provision. The government
will shoulder the additional cost of electricity. We are eyeing Malampaya
Funds as subsidy,” Umali said, adding that the cost for additional
electricity would be sourced from the Malampaya Fund. READ FULL REPORT...

DEC 11 --PHOTO: Osmena Escudero --PRESIDENT Simeon Benigno
Aquino III does not really understand the power sector and is
relying on equally uninformed people who misled the Chief Executive
into asking for special powers that are not needed in the first
place, according to Senator Sergio Osmena III. Osmeña, chairman of
the Senate energy committee, made the remark on Thursday after the
House passed a joint congressional resolution granting Aquino
special powers, but limited only to the Interruptible Load Program
that had already been implemented without special powers. Osmeña,
related by marriage to the Lopez family which is one of the biggest
players in the power industry, reiterated there is no need for
special powers and Sen. Francis Escudero echoed the sentiment. “I
have already been burned by emergency powers,” Escudero said during
the weekly Kapihan sa Senado news forum. “The last time we gave
emergency powers related to electricity, prices went up as a result.
So we should be careful if we will do that again.”

Escudero also doubted the need for special powers after the
Department of Energy admitted to lawmakers that they are actually
predicting a shortage in power reserves instead of an actual
shortage in power supply. “[The President] does not really know
power,” Osmeña said on Thursday when told that the House had passed
a measure granting Aquino special powers, but limited only to the
Interruptible Load Program that the government has already been
implementing since 2010. “So he relies on people who don’t know
power either,” he said, referring to Energy Sec. Jericho Petilla,
who initially asked Congress to grant emergency powers to Aquino so
he could contract generator sets to address a supposed power
shortage during the summer months of 2015. Even if the supposed
shortage were real, Osmeña said the country’s energy regulators
could have found a way to deal with if only they applied themselves.
“Believe me, we will have 1,600 megawatts,” Osmena said, referring
to the amount of the power shortage that Petilla predicted during
the summer months. For one, Osmeña said the government should have
talked to resort owners at Lake Caliraya in Laguna so that the CBK
power plant there could pump more water it needs to produce more
power. CONTINUE READING....

(ALSO) Aquino: Serge’s fault if crisis hits

BUSAN—President Benigno Aquino III on Friday challenged
Senator Sergio Osmeña III to take the blame and be the first to
explain to the public if the country suffers from power outages
during the summer months next year after the lawmaker opposed the
granting of emergency powers that will allow the government to
contract additional energy sources. “Senator Serge, with all due
respect, is saying all these things and he has convinced some of his
colleagues and until now we don’t have emergency powers. Maybe he
looks at it half-full and we look at it half-empty,” Aquino said.
“If we suffer from power shortage, I hope he volunteers to answer to
the public why we do not have enough energy supply. The government
was not lacking in efforts to avert this problem. Maybe they will
give it to us on March 1, and then the public will blame us. For our
part, perhaps he (Osmeña) can volunteer to explain. Mauna siya,” the
President added. The senator earlier said Aquino does not really
understand the power sector and is relying on equally uninformed
people who misled the President into asking for special powers that
are not needed in the first place. Osmeña, who chairs the Senate
energy committee, said the Interruptible Load Program is already
enough to expand the country’s reserve power. “[The President] does
not really know power... so he relies on people who don’t know power
either,” said Osmena. Osmena found an ally in Senator Miriam
Defensor-Santiago, who on Friday tagged as “dangerous” the “calendar
accommodations” in rushing the grant of emergency powers to the
president. READ FULL REPORT...

ALSO: Senate on Noy powers: No rush

DEC 12 ---PHOTO: SENATOR OSMENA, ENERGY COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN---Philippines - The Senate won’t be rushed into passing its
version of a resolution granting President Aquino emergency powers
to address an imminent power shortage in summer next year, Senate
committee on energy chairman Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.
Osmeña said he saw no need to immediately approve the joint
resolution, which the President certified as urgent and was approved
by the House of Representatives the other day. The senator said that
if the purpose of granting special powers to Aquino is to make the
interruptible load program (ILP) work, such power is unnecessary
because the program is already in place and working in Cebu and
Davao. “Very generally, in order to obtain additional generating
capacity, we are authorizing the President to do what? I don’t know
what they are authorizing the President to do,” he said. “But they
are just saying that, we are hereby exempting companies that join
the ILP from certain laws. There’s the VAT law, the Biofuels Act,
but we don’t need this. We don’t have to give those exemptions at
all.” In his previous statements, Osmeña said that several big
corporations and industries with generator sets have committed to
participate in the ILP without any incentive except for a guarantee
that the government would shoulder the costs of running these
generators. READ FULL SUPPORT...

ALSO: Phl to answer questions from UN tribunal
on sea row

DEC 12 ---The Philippines will answer questions from the
United Nations tribunal on the West Philippine Sea dispute with
China during an oral argument in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
spokesman Charles Jose said the tribunal will give the questions
after the Dec. 15 deadline for China to submit its counter-memorial.
“And if we will be asked to go to The Hague for oral arguments then
that could take place maybe in the middle of next year,” he said.
China has indicated in its last position paper that it will not
participate in the arbitral process. Jose said the tribunal will
also take China’s side into account. “Anything in that position
paper already serves that purpose,” he said. “China is stating its
position so I think that will be taken into account by the court.”
In a position paper released on Sunday, China outlined its arguments
against the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in
The Hague to take up the case filed by the Philippines last year
that could have implications on its claims over nearly all of the
West Philippine Sea. READ FULL REPORT...

ALSO: ‘Double entries’ in additional budget?

PHOTO: KABATAAN REP RIDON: AN opposition lawmaker said there
were “suspicious double entries” for five big-ticket items amounting
to P3.14 billion in the supplemental budget for 2014 during plenary
debates Thursday. During the session, Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon
grilled the bill’s sponsor, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, for
including several items in the P22.4 billion supplemental budget
“that just repeat items already funded by the 2014 and 2015
budgets.” Ridon identified the five projects with double
entries as the Department of Interior and Local Governments’
procurement of fire trucks, the Metro Rail Transit 3 and Light
Railway Transit rehabilitation, the National Greening Program and
the Treasury Single Account Program. “Isn’t appropriating funds for
a program or project that’s already been given funding in the
national budget a sort of corruption in itself? In accounting, this
is called a double entry—two budgets for only one project,” Ridon
said in the plenary session. “The proposed P22.4-billion
supplemental budget for 2014 is replete with suspicious double
entries,” Ridon said. He said the Department of Budget and
Management and the House leadership kept saying that the items that
they included in the proposed supplemental budget were not funded by
either the 2014 or 2015 General Appropriations Act. “However, a
simple check of these budget laws show that there are proposed items
in HB 5237 that are already funded by the annual national budget,”
Ridon said. Items 1 and 2, for example, sought P903.8 million for
the implementation of the “Treasury Single Account” even though in
the 2014 national budget, some P515.6 million had already been
appropriated for the same project, with a capital outlay of P501
million and P14.6 million for Maintenance Operating and Other
Expenses or MOOE. Item 3 sets aside P11.2 million for the hiring of
294 former rebels under the National Greening Program, but the 2014
national budget already appropriated P403.5 million for the same, he
said. READ FULL REPORT...

ALSO: Transactional politics oozes in budget
supplement

PHOTO; SC CHIEF JUSTICE SERENO ---The 2014 supplemental budget
is shaping up as a pork repository exclusively for allies of
President Aquino in the House with its approval coming right after
the swift approval of emergency powers that the Palace had
vigorously sought for President Aquino purportedly to address a
power crisis next year. Aside from the House’s plan to scrap the
P700-million allocation for the Supreme Court’s Enterprise
Information System Plan in the P22-billion budget supplement, it was
found to contain several double entries. The proposed P22.4-billion
supplemental budget for 2014 is “replete with suspicious double
entries,” Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon pointed out yesterday. The House
move to scrap the funding for the Supreme Court was contained in the
Committee Report of House Bill 5237 or the P22 billion supplemental
budget for 2014. The Palace allies in the House are still smarting
from the removal of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)
and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which were both
declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC).The SC’s sought funding was, in turn, committed by the Palace which
was suspected as the reason for the high court holding up a final
verdict on the DAP which is on appeal by Malacañang. READ FULL REPORT...

ALSO: Leni Robredo's ‘waiting for a bus’ photo
from Facebook went viral

A photo of Camarines Sur third district Representative Maria
Leonor “Leni” Robredo while waiting alone for a provincial bus to
Naga City has gone viral and has since drew admirations from
netizens. The photo, which was taken by the lawmaker’s friend Keisha
del Castillo last December 4, showed a woman waiting alone at a gas
station in Magallanes, Makati City, donned in a striped shirt and
denim pants and carrying two bags. Del Castillo’s caption for the
photo says: “The art of riding the bus to Naga: if you can’t catch
it in Cubao, you can always try to flag it down at the Magallanes
Shell Station. Like Cong. Leni Robredo.” Robredo, a lawyer and widow
of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, confirmed that she was
the woman in the photo. READ FULL REPORT...

READ FULL MEDIA
REPORTS HERE:

PNoy gets extra powers, But House action could face Senate
opposition

MANILA, PHILIPPINES, DECEMBER 15, 2014 (MANILA
STANDARD) By Maricel Cruz, Macon R. Araneta - THE House
of Representatives on Wednesday night approved on third and final reading a
resolution granting special powers to President Benigno Aquino III to
address a supposed power shortage, but the measure faces rough sailing in
the Senate with the opposition of Senator Sergio Osmeña III.

The House approved Joint Resolution No. 1 via acclamation on second
reading and 149 lawmakers later voted for the resolution’s passage over the
objections of 18 congressmen, like Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who said
the resolution allowed the suspension of environmental laws.

But Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House committee
on energy and co-chair the Joint Congressional Power Commission, said the
approved powers would be limited to the use of the Interruptible Load
Program that was already being implemented anyway.

Besides, Umali said they ensured that consumers will not have to pay
extra when the government’s power reserves fall below the usual requirement
around March next year.

“We approved the emergency powers with a ‘no pass-on’ provision. The
government will shoulder the additional cost of electricity. We are eyeing
Malampaya Funds as subsidy,” Umali said, adding that the cost for additional
electricity would be sourced from the Malampaya Fund.

But Colmenares argued that the resolution was not only unnecessary
because the Department of Energy itself admitted that the additional energy
to be generated will only only cover shortages in reserves and not in the
actual power used by consumers.

Morerover, Colmenares said the resolution also allowed the suspension of
environmental laws, like the Biofuels Act, Clean Air Act, the Philippine
Grid Code, and the Philippine Distribution Code, which are meant to regulate
the price of electricity.

“This is a joint resolution not to cure any shortage of supply. This is a
joint resolution to facilitate the establishment of power plants even if
they violate our environmental laws and other rules requiring consent,
consultation,” Colmenares told reporters in a news briefing.

“The matter is not really about electricity, but the power to suspend
environmental laws and fast-track the application of power plants so they
don’t have to comply with the requirements of the law,” he added.

The resolution was meant to empower the President to purchase or rent
generating sets that would have cost between P6 billion to P12 billion to
prevent massive outages that could be as long as 3-5 hours over 5 days.

But the DOE later admitted that the additional capacity needed was only
to ensure the amount of reserves and not to fill up a shortage on supply.

The DOE said it needs to maintain reserves of 1,004 megawatts to cover
for heavier energy usage during the summer months of 2015. Of the figure,
600 megawatts worth of dispatchable reserve power is needed while 404
megawatts will be reserved for contingencies.

After the DOE failed to justify the need to purchase or lease generator
sets, the House watered down the proposal to focus more on the ILP.

Osmeña, chairman of the Senate committee on energy, also questioned the
need for emergency powers and rescheduled hearings until Senate President
Franklin Drilon asked senators to prioritize the deliberations on the
budget.

“Right now, all senators are busy to pass the most important law every
year, which is the national budget. There are instructions already from the
Senate President’s office that there will be no hearings until the national
budget is passed,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña also also said he doubted the Senate can tackle the emergency
power measure before the end of the year because the measure was serious and
complicated and needed to be scrutinized by Congress.

“I think they will mostly have to do with appropriations and the use of
the Malampaya fund. So it might not be an amendment or exemption to the
[Electric Power Industry Reform Act] but an exemption to the Malampaya
fund,” Osmeña said.

On the other hand, Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza blamed Energy Secretary
Jericho Petilla for the supposed power crisis and urged the Cabinet
officials to resign if he could not solve the problem.

“He should get an emergency exit and not emergency powers,” Atienza said
of Petilla, adding that Umali should not blame power consumers for the
supposed crisis because the problem was created by Petilla.

“If they already knew that there will be a problem next year, they should
have acted on it. There are other alternatives to address the problem.
Granting emergency powers is not the solutionm,” Atienza said.

“If our power plants are breaking down, does that not reflect on the
persons managing them? Then we should get better and more efficient managers
so we can avoid breakdowns like the ones we are facing now,” Atienza said.

On the other hand, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. welcomed the passage of
the resolution and stressed that it provided that “additional generating
capacity shall be sourced from the Interruptible Load Program” in addition
to the power plants that are already in the pipeline.

The ILP program involves asking malls, factories and other establishments
to use their own generator sets when the National Grid Corportation of the
Philippines expects the supply of electricity to fall short of demand.

Under the ILP, customers with large power loads such as commercial
establishments will be asked to operate their own generators when the power
grid could not meet power demand and the generator owner would be reimbursed
later.

Belmonte encouraged heavy power users like malls, industrial plants and
similar big establishmentys to enlist participation in the ILP and that the
participants shall be properly compensated by the government.

Umali, meanwhile, maintained the resolution would not result in higher
electricity rates for consumers because it specifically rules out buying or
leasing generator sets as originally proposed by the DOE.

The special authority given to the President will last only until July
2015 unless earlier withdrawn by the President and upon the recommendation
of the Joint Congressional Power Commission.

The House will transmit the approved Joint Resolution to the Senate for
reconsideration.

PRESIDENT Simeon Benigno Aquino III does not really understand the power
sector and is relying on equally uninformed people who misled the Chief
Executive into asking for special powers that are not needed in the first
place, according to Senator Sergio Osmena III.

Osmeña, chairman of the Senate energy committee, made the remark on
Thursday after the House passed a joint congressional resolution granting
Aquino special powers, but limited only to the Interruptible Load Program
that had already been implemented without special powers.

Osmena Escudero

Osmeña, related by marriage to the Lopez family which is one of the biggest
players in the power industry, reiterated there is no need for special
powers and Sen. Francis Escudero echoed the sentiment.

“I have already been burned by emergency powers,” Escudero said during
the weekly Kapihan sa Senado news forum. “The last time we gave emergency
powers related to electricity, prices went up as a result. So we should be
careful if we will do that again.”

Escudero also doubted the need for special powers after the Department of
Energy admitted to lawmakers that they are actually predicting a shortage in
power reserves instead of an actual shortage in power supply.

“[The President] does not really know power,” Osmeña said on Thursday
when told that the House had passed a measure granting Aquino special
powers, but limited only to the Interruptible Load Program that the
government has already been implementing since 2010.

“So he relies on people who don’t know power either,” he said, referring
to Energy Sec. Jericho Petilla, who initially asked Congress to grant
emergency powers to Aquino so he could contract generator sets to address a
supposed power shortage during the summer months of 2015.

Even if the supposed shortage were real, Osmeña said the country’s energy
regulators could have found a way to deal with if only they applied
themselves.

“Believe me, we will have 1,600 megawatts,” Osmena said, referring to the
amount of the power shortage that Petilla predicted during the summer
months.

For one, Osmeña said the government should have talked to resort owners
at Lake Caliraya in Laguna so that the CBK power plant there could pump more
water it needs to produce more power.

“[The resort owners] have to take a backseat to the people’s needs for
power. That’s an extra 100MW to 150MW,” said Osmena, stressing that Lake
Caliraya was created as a water imponding facility and not as a resort lake.

He said the CBK plant has a stalled capacity of 750MW, but only delivers
500MW because they could not get additional waters after resort owners
complained that they might be drowned.

He said the government can also generate more power if the Energy
Regulatory Commission exempts hydro drams in Luzon from December to March
from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market rules which prevent them from giving
an additional 100-250MW during summer.

The hydro-electrict plant owners, Osmena said, are composed of the
Aboitiz group, which owns Magat Dam, Ambuklao dam and Binga Dam; businessman
Ramon Ang, who operates the San Roque dam and the Lopez group which operates
the Pantabangan dam.

Osmena said he will ask the ERC to exempt the plants from WESM’s
must-offer rule so that during summer, “we will have more power, so that’s
another 100-150MW.”

At present, he said the Senate is still trying to get all the details on
the cost and the legalities involved like the need for exemptions from the
biofuels law for the Ilijan-Kepco.

“We might want to exempt the natural gas plant of Kepco-Ilijan from the
Biofuels Act because the biofuels are very dirty so they have to clean the
plant right after using the biofuel and it takes them five days to clean the
plant.,” he said.

When that happens, the plant is offline and unproductive for five days
and Osmeña does not want that to be lost. “Let’s exempt them from that, it’s
a very small price to pay,” he said.

“And then, we want to keep hold of the Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management (PSALM) because it will pay the extra storage to
deliver diesel to Kepco Ilijan for their 2nd 600MW plant that they would not
be operating because they lack storage facilities,” he said

“It costs less than a million dollars. Don’t let PSALM be left holding
the financial bag there. So, we will be authorizing the President to use the
Malampaya Fund,” Osmeña added.

But even if the government had the 1,600 megawatts it says it lacks, the
DOE still will not be able to assure that there will be no power outages.

“Yes, we will still have outages, but short brownouts. Very short. Maybe
1-2 hours. It depends on the hottest day. Or if by accident, suddenly three
big plants go down or a boiler explodes. We cannot predict that. That’s an
act of God,” he said.

“It’s up to God. There will be so many (systems) that will go down during
April and May, which are the hottest months. But I think normal outage we
will be limited to three or four brownouts a year,” he also said.

Osmeña said the country, under its current situation, really has very low
reserve power of about 19% and we expect 3-5 brownouts every year.

“In a situation where, like Singapore you have a 50% reserve, not 90, not
20%, but 50% you expect 1 brownout every 3 years,” he said.

Osmena reiterated that he does not see the need for the emergency power
since everything seems to be in place. He said the ILP is in place to
address the power outage.

“We have found certain solutions that would expand our reserve power. So,
what is the House asking for? The 750MW? We have already looked for 600MW,
plus another 300MW of hydro, plus another 300MW in full peaking plant in
Malaya the moment it is fully repaired plus the ILP,” stressed Osmeña.

He said that in the ILP alone, we can already access 1000MW, and that is
already de-rated, meaning we expect 1400 MW at 70% efficiency, it will be
de-rated to 1000MW.

“So we will have sufficient power to say that our reserve of 1600MW will
be covered,” said Osmena. “Now, I cannot answer why were they saying that
the 1,600MW would not be enough.”

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, who voted in the House against the
special powers, also saw no need for House Joint Resolution 21 which will
result in “an open season for environmental degradation and abuse” because
of the suspension of environment compliance certificates.

“Imagine, for five months, laws that protect our environment from
exploitation and destruction together with labor laws that protect our
workers from abuse, will totally be inoperable. It’s a very large window
open for abuse,” Ridon said.

“Essentially, HJR 21 will exempt power industry players from any
liability if they commit infractions against pertinent laws during the
period covered by the measure. If ever a large-scale environmental disaster
happens in that period, generating companies will go unscathed,” he added.

But Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali allayed Ridon’s fears, saying
the special power to be granted to the President will not result in an “open
season for environmental destruction” since power plants will still be
required to comply with environmental protection laws, albeit belatedly.

“Just because the laws are suspended for those five months doesn’t mean
that power plants can ignore meeting the requirements to obtain an ECC
(Environmental Compliance Certificate).

“After July, the companies would have to comply. If they don’t, their
plants would have to stop [operating],” Umali told reporters at a press
conference.

Umali said the cited Unit 1 of the Malaya Power Plant in Rizal which will
be rehabilliyated soon as this would benefit once the implementation of
environmental laws are suspended once the special power of the President is
in effect.

“Malaya has emission problems and violates the Clean Air Act because it
uses bunker fuel. If we don’t suspend the implementation of the Clean Air
Act from March to July, we can’t operate Malaya. Its capacity of 300 to 500
MW can’t be tapped,” he said.

BUSAN—President Benigno Aquino III on Friday challenged Senator Sergio
Osmeña III to take the blame and be the first to explain to the public if
the country suffers from power outages during the summer months next year
after the lawmaker opposed the granting of emergency powers that will allow
the government to contract additional energy sources.

“Senator Serge, with all due respect, is saying all these things and he
has convinced some of his colleagues and until now we don’t have emergency
powers. Maybe he looks at it half-full and we look at it half-empty,” Aquino
said.

“If we suffer from power shortage, I hope he volunteers to answer to the
public why we do not have enough energy supply. The government was not
lacking in efforts to avert this problem. Maybe they will give it to us on
March 1, and then the public will blame us. For our part, perhaps he (Osmeña)
can volunteer to explain. Mauna siya,” the President added.

The senator earlier said Aquino does not really understand the power sector
and is relying on equally uninformed people who misled the President into
asking for special powers that are not needed in the first place.

Osmeña, who chairs the Senate energy committee, said the Interruptible
Load Program is already enough to expand the country’s reserve power.

“[The President] does not really know power... so he relies on people who
don’t know power either,” said Osmena.

Osmena found an ally in Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who on Friday
tagged as “dangerous” the “calendar accommodations” in rushing the grant of
emergency powers to the president.

“Since this emergency power will begin March till July, why do we have to
approve it now?” asked Santiago.

In a press briefing following her speech on Renewable Energy in the
Philippine Electricity Market Corporation-sponsored conference at the Grand
Ballroom of Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City, Santiago noted that many
people haven’t read yet what this emergency powers is all about.

She also questioned the need for everything to be rushed when Congress is
set to adjourn for the Christmas break by December 19.

She also asked why the country, an archipelago, is not generating energy
from the ocean.

She noted that the Renewable Energy Act has not been implemented because
six years after the law has been in operation, action remains too slow and
the country’s renewable energy supply is too small.

But Senate President Franklin Drilon said that Osmena’s energy committee,
might still report out to the plenary on the Emergency Powers Act (EPA) by
January next year.

Drilon said Osmena will not actually junk the EPA, but will first study
its implications.

“From what I know the emergency powers will just ensure that the power
generators in the private sector can be used by the public, the so-called
Interruptible Load Program (ILP),” said Drilon.

He said this would mean that big malls can be required to allow the use
of their generator sets to help cope with the scarcity in power supply
during the months of March and April in 2015.

Drilon added that If Osmena will not submit a committee report on the
emergency powers, there will be nothing for the senators to vote.

“But I don’t think that will happen,” said Drilon.

But the president said the delay in granting him emergency powers will
also delay its implementation.

“Even if they agree to give us (emergency powers) by Monday, we might not
be able to use it anymore because the problem might start by March. And it
will take us six months to physically transfer and put up the plants that we
will rent for two years,” the President said.

“They are saying that if the problem does not arrive, then we would have
wasted money in renting the power plants. But what will we do when the
problem arrives? If it doesn’t happen - then thank you. What we would have
spent will be like an insurance for us...Our policy has always been prepare
for the worst but hope for the best,” he said.

“I am hoping that they are right, that they have the perfect solution
from the get-go and we don’t need it. Having said that, I am worried that if
we do get there, will we have the wherewithal to address the problems,” the
President added.

Aquino also warned that the expected power shortage could turn off
investors.

“Businessmen have a saying - the most expensive power is power that is
not there,” he said.

Energy Department Jericho Petilla and Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda
also warned of the consequences of not granting Aquino emergency powers to
address the anticipated power shortage.

Petilla said that without the emergecy powers, consumers will have to
bear the cost for the interruptible load program.

Petilla said that joint resolution filed by Congress will ensure that
consumers will not have to pay for the additional compensation to
participants of the ILP.

He added that the ILP works by calling on business customers with loads
of at least one megawatt to run their own generator sets, if needed, instead
of drawing power from the grid.

ILP is a demand side management program that is regarded as one of the
counter measures to help mitigate the projected power supply strain in
summer.

“ILP will be implemented on March 1, but if its passed this time, because
the assurance of this is the people will not have to pay for the additional
compensation for ILP,” Petilla said.

He added that the resolution would also ensure that LLPs will be
compensated, so they will be encouraged to participate in the program.

“The earlier that we release it, probably the more participants we will
get. Because probably right now, we have 600 MWs of participants, we’d like
to raise it to over 1,000,” the energy chief said.

Petilla said that while the House of Representatives has endorsed the
joint resolution he said “we cannot blame the Senate, if they want to
scrutinize the details of the authority.”

The department earlier urged companies to express commitment to the ILP
on or before December 31, 2014.

Petilla, however, cautioned that slightly more than half of the committed
capacity of ILP participants is expected to run based on historical and
technical simulations and constraints.

This means that out the 600 MW total committed capacity to date, around
half 370 MW is expected to be available.

Lacierda, on the other hand, also hit critics of the administration and
dared those who opposed the granting of emergency to the president to come
up with a solution to address the possible power shortage in 2015.

Lacierda added that the Senate and the House of Representatives should
“marry” their respective proposals to address the looming power shortage.

“The most expensive power is no power. If there is no power, it affects
the economy; it affects the convenience of the consumers. What we are trying
to do is come up with the solution with the safeguards in mind,” Lacierda
said.

“[The President] does not really know power... so he relies on people who
don’t know power either,” Osmena said.

Lacierda said that he understand that Osemna is very “blunt about his
opinion” and assured the lawmaker that all of the concerns will be taken
into consideration.

“Senator Serge Osmena, I am very certain, is looking at the best solution
also that would best address the situation,” he said.

“Senator Serge Osmena, while he may differ with Secretary (Jericho)
Patilla, has also the best interest of the Filipino in mind. Knowing that
there is a potential power outage in May of 2015, he’s looking also at the
situation as how to mitigate or how to address the potential issue come
2015,” Lacierda said.

He added that the Palace will leave it with the House and Senate to come
up with a concrete proposal to address the power situation.

“Both the House and the Senate as well as the executive branch, are
working towards a solution to address that particular issue,” he said.

“Hopefully everything and everyone will be able to be on board, will be
in sync to address the power situation,” he added.

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate won’t be rushed into passing its version
of a resolution granting President Aquino emergency powers to address an
imminent power shortage in summer next year, Senate committee on energy
chairman Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.

Osmeña said he saw no need to immediately approve the joint resolution,
which the President certified as urgent and was approved by the House of
Representatives the other day.

The senator said that if the purpose of granting special powers to Aquino
is to make the interruptible load program (ILP) work, such power is
unnecessary because the program is already in place and working in Cebu and
Davao.

“Very generally, in order to obtain additional generating capacity, we
are authorizing the President to do what? I don’t know what they are
authorizing the President to do,” he said. “But they are just saying that,
we are hereby exempting companies that join the ILP from certain laws.
There’s the VAT law, the Biofuels Act, but we don’t need this. We don’t have
to give those exemptions at all.”

In his previous statements, Osmeña said that several big corporations and
industries with generator sets have committed to participate in the ILP
without any incentive except for a guarantee that the government would
shoulder the costs of running these generators.

The ILP requires companies or big establishments with generator sets to
run them at certain hours on any given day whenever the supply at the grid
is low, in order to reduce the demand for power and free up some for
households.

Since the generators run on diesel fuel, the companies would have to
shell out money otherwise invested or spent on something else.

Misled president

Osmeña said the President was apparently misinformed about the situation,
hence his pushing vigorously for the approval of the joint resolution.

“Because the President is being misled. He does not really know power, so
he relies on people who don’t know power either,” he said.

“But believe me, we will have 1,600 megawatts. If we do not have 1,600
MW, that’s beyond already the control of the Senate, it’s up to God,” Osmeña
said.

Through the ILP alone, Osmeña said 1,000 MW of power would be made
available to small consumers without burdening the grid.

He said that the Ilijan power plant operated by KEPCO in Batangas could
generate as much as 600 MW as long as certain conditions are met, which he
said the Senate intends to address in its own version of the joint
resolution.

Osmeña said that the Senate’s version would also give powers to the
President, but such powers would be very different from ones being pushed by
the House.

In the case of the Ilijan plant, Osmeña said the Senate would push for
the exemption of the plant from the Biofuels Act so that it could run on
pure diesel and generate more power during the critical months.

“Because biofuels are very dirty and they have to clean the plant right
after using the biofuel and it takes them five days to clean the plant.
Let’s exempt them from that, it’s a very small price to pay,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña noted that KEPCO also lacks a storage facility for diesel fuel if
ever its plant is allowed to run on pure diesel. He said the resolution of
the Senate would also cover this issue.

He said that the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.
(PSALM) would have to carry the cost of providing storage facility, which he
estimates would run to less than $1 million.

“We should not let PSALM end up holding the financial bag there. So we
will be authorizing the President to use the Malampaya Fund,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said that the Malampaya Fund would also be tapped to finance the
dredging of the Pasig River in order to address the fuel delivery issues of
the Malaya power plant in Pililia, Rizal.

One unit of the 600 MW Malaya thermal power plant is undergoing
rehabilitation and should be ready by the end of the year.

Once the two units run on full capacity next year, Osmeña said a fuel
delivery system must be in place to ensure that operations are
uninterrupted.

Since the fuel pipeline between Batangas and Sucat was already shut down,
Osmeña said delivery of fuel to Malaya now has to be done through barges
along the Pasig River.

“But Pasig River has since silted so much that unless you dredge, it will
be hard to get the barge up. Because it’s an energy-related issue, the
President can get that out of the Malampaya Fund,” he said.

“We can pass the resolution authorizing that even in February, that will
be perfectly fine. There is no time to pass it this year. And besides, it is
completely unnecessary anyway. We’ll just pass it next year. If it were
necessary, we would have passed it already,” he added.

Checking abuses

At the House of Representatives, committee on energy chairman Oriental
Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said lawmakers would be on guard for possible
abuses in the exercise of emergency powers granted to President Aquino.

“We can’t help but there could be abuses, just like in any other law, but
we will be on top of the situation,” Umali, who also co-chairs the Joint
Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), said. “The JCPC will continue to
function precisely to oversee the implementation of this so we will avoid
excesses.

“We did not dissolve the technical working group of the JCPC so that it
will continue to function to foresee its implementation, so we will avoid
excesses or abuses,” he said.

The chamber passed on Wednesday Joint Resolution 21 that suspended
certain laws and authorized the allocation of funds to allow Aquino to
establish additional generating capacity.

He said the JCPC will regularly meet with concerned government agencies
and industry stakeholders to monitor the implementation of the joint
resolution apart from getting monthly updates from Aquino as mandated by the
measure.

The emergency powers will be in place from March to July unless otherwise
revoked by Congress.

Umali estimates that the ILP will cost P200 million at most during the
five-month period that the emergency measure is in effect, if the shortage
is at 300 MW.

The Department of Energy said there is no actual shortage but only
shortfall in reserves. Umali said reserves are much needed in summer when
power plants often break down.

With the suspension of environment laws during the period, it is possible
that the government would have to resort to “dirty power” to address any
shortage. He said this is something that the people may just have to bear.

“For example, even if this plant has an emission problem, we will allow
it just for the five-month period, after that, we will no longer allow it to
operate because it has a problem,” Umali said.

“What we’re saying is that, if we’re in a crisis, we can’t be choosers,”
he said in Filipino.

He emphasized, however, that based on his data, there would be no need to
tap problematic power plants in the event of a shortage.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will answer questions from the
United Nations tribunal on the West Philippine Sea dispute with China during
an oral argument in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
spokesman Charles Jose said the tribunal will give the questions after the
Dec. 15 deadline for China to submit its counter-memorial.

“And if we will be asked to go to The Hague for oral arguments then that
could take place maybe in the middle of next year,” he said.

China has indicated in its last position paper that it will not
participate in the arbitral process.

Jose said the tribunal will also take China’s side into account.

“Anything in that position paper already serves that purpose,” he said.
“China is stating its position so I think that will be taken into account by
the court.”

In a position paper released on Sunday, China outlined its arguments
against the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
to take up the case filed by the Philippines last year that could have
implications on its claims over nearly all of the West Philippine Sea.

China has denounced the Philippines for putting it under pressure with an
international arbitration case over disputed waters, and refused again to
participate a week ahead of a deadline to respond.

China rejects claims to parts of the West Philippine Sea from Vietnam,
the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

It also has a dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.

China has long rejected arbitration, insisting it would resolve disputes
bilaterally.

Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said China will not present its
counter-memorial to the arbitral tribunal despite being given until Dec. 15
to do so.

“We have taken note of the issues but China will not answer,” Zhao said.

“Because China only ratified the Convention on the Law of the Sea and
made it very clear that China will not accept any arbitration by the courts.
So it’s a legal right for China as a party to the convention.”

China’s stand against participating in the proceedings has not changed,
Zhao said.

On March 30, the Philippines submitted a nearly 4,000-page memorial
detailing its arguments and evidence against China’s nine-dash line and
other aspects of its expansive and excessive claims in the West Philippine
Sea to an arbitral tribunal at The Hague.

Consistent with its peaceful and rules-based approach to settle disputes
in accordance with international law, the Philippines initiated arbitration
proceedings against China under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
on Jan. 22, 2013.

AN opposition lawmaker said there were “suspicious double entries” for
five big-ticket items amounting to P3.14 billion in the supplemental budget
for 2014 during plenary debates Thursday.

During the session, Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon grilled the bill’s sponsor,
Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, for including several items in the P22.4
billion supplemental budget “that just repeat items already funded by the
2014 and 2015 budgets.”

Ridon identified the five projects with double entries as the Department of
Interior and Local Governments’ procurement of fire trucks, the Metro Rail
Transit 3 and Light Railway Transit rehabilitation, the National Greening
Program and the Treasury Single Account Program.

“Isn’t appropriating funds for a program or project that’s already been
given funding in the national budget a sort of corruption in itself? In
accounting, this is called a double entry—two budgets for only one project,”
Ridon said in the plenary session.

He said the Department of Budget and Management and the House leadership
kept saying that the items that they included in the proposed supplemental
budget were not funded by either the 2014 or 2015 General Appropriations
Act.

“However, a simple check of these budget laws show that there are
proposed items in HB 5237 that are already funded by the annual national
budget,” Ridon said.

Items 1 and 2, for example, sought P903.8 million for the implementation
of the “Treasury Single Account” even though in the 2014 national budget,
some P515.6 million had already been appropriated for the same project, with
a capital outlay of P501 million and P14.6 million for Maintenance Operating
and Other Expenses or MOOE.

Item 3 sets aside P11.2 million for the hiring of 294 former rebels under
the National Greening Program, but the 2014 national budget already
appropriated P403.5 million for the same, he said.

Ridon also said that while the supplemental budget seeks P957.1 million
for the MRT rehabilitation and capacity extension, the 2014 budget already
appropriated P4.5 billion for the same purpose.

For the LRT 1 and 2, the government was asking P977.7 million in the
supplemental budget, when Congress had already appropriated P2.8 billion for
the same purpose in the 2015 budget.

“We believe Congress should exercise prudence in passing supplemental
budgets, given the limited fiscal space that we have. A supplemental budget
should be passed only for projects that are truly urgent, not just a mix and
match of favored projects that already have prior funding in the regular
national budget,” Ridon said.

In reply to Ridon’s queries, Ungab said the supplemental budget would
fund either phases of or the completion of those projects.

“There is no double entry. These are different allocations altogether,
although it may fund the same projects,” Ungab said.

“The procurement and implementation were done in phases, whenever funds
were available so these are additional funds to complete those projects.”

Ridon also pointed out that there are several items in the supplemental
budget that were clearly set aside for “pork projects” of favored Cabinet
members.

He said such items include the PNP Operational Transformation Plan worth
P2.8 billion under the DILG-Office of the Secretary, which Ridon said may be
a pork project of Secretary Manuel Roxas II; retrofitting of Presidential
Management Staff Office Building worth P210 million, which may be a pet
project of the Budget secretary’s daughter and PMS head Julia Abad;
renovation of the Department of Finance-OSEC property worth P32.2 million,
which may be a pork project of Secretary Cesar Purisima.

“It is clear that the supplemental budget is not for urgent projects, but
for the benefit of President Benigno Aquino III’s favored men. Definitely,
we can call this additional budget as ‘supplemental pork’,” Ridon said.

Despite Ridon’s objections, the House was expected to approve the
supplemental budget today (Friday) after lawmakers said they would hold a
marathon session Thursday night to pass it before sunrise.

Under the version of the bill approved by the bicameral conference
committee, some P715.36 million that was supposed to go to the Supreme
Court’s computer system was realigned to other purposes, including emergency
shelter assistance for victims of typhoon Yolanda. –
With Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos

The 2014 supplemental budget is shaping up as a pork repository
exclusively for allies of President Aquino in the House with its approval
coming right after the swift approval of emergency powers that the Palace
had vigorously sought for President Aquino purportedly to address a power
crisis next year.

Aside from the House’s plan to scrap the P700-million allocation for the
Supreme Court’s Enterprise Information System Plan in the P22-billion budget
supplement, it was found to contain several double entries.

The House move to scrap the funding for the Supreme Court was contained in
the Committee Report of House Bill 5237 or the P22 billion supplemental
budget for 2014.

The Palace allies in the House are still smarting from the removal of the
Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement
Acceleration Program (DAP) which were both declared unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court (SC).

The SC’s sought funding was, in turn, committed by the Palace which was
suspected as the reason for the high court holding up a final verdict on the
DAP which is on appeal by Malacañang. The House, instead, increased the
allocation for the Emergency Shelter Assistance for the victims of
supertyphoon Yolanda under the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) and the fund for the obligations arising from implemented
infrastructure projects most of which was covered by the DAP.

From P1.5 billion, the budget for the Emergency Shelter Assistance for
Yolanda victims was hiked to P2.16 billion. On the other hand, the budget
for the obligations arising from implemented infrastructure projects was
augmented to P1.9 billion from a previous amount of P1.8 billion.

Members of the political left argued that the supplemental budget was also
pockmarked with “double entries” such as the P11.2 million for the National
Greening Program even if the P2.606 trillion budget which was already
allocated P403.5 million for the same program.

According to Ridon, also in the supplemental budget is the procurement of
firetrucks amounting to P199 million despite the presence of another
allocation for the same purpose under the 2015 General Appropriations Act.

“We believe Congress should exercise prudence in passing supplemental
budgets, given the limited fiscal space that we have. A supplemental budget
should be passed only for projects that are truly urgent, not just a mix and
match of favored projects that already have prior funding in the regular
national budget,” Ridon pointed out.

As of press time yesterday, the House in plenary is still debating on the
supplemental budget.

Opening the period of interpellation for House Bill 5237 or the proposed
supplemental budget this morning, Ridon grilled the bill’s sponsor and House
appropriations committee chairman Isidro Ungab for including several items
in the proposed budget “that just repeats items already funded by the 2014
and 2015 budgets.”

“The Department of Budget and Management and the House leadership keep on
saying that the items that they included in the proposed supplemental budget
are not funded by either the 2014 or 2015 General Appropriations Act.
However, a simple check of these budget laws shows that there are proposed
items in HB 5237 that are already funded by the annual national budget,”
Ridon said.

“Isn’t appropriating funds for a program or project that’s already been
given funding in the national budget a sort of corruption in itself? It is
called in accounting as double entry, two budgets for one project,” the
lawmaker said.

“We believe Congress should exercise prudence in passing supplemental
budgets, given the limited fiscal space that we have. A supplemental budget
should be passed only for projects that are truly urgent, not just a mix and
match of favored projects that already have prior funding in the regular
national budget,” Ridon said.

MANILA, Philippines – A photo of Camarines Sur third district
Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo while waiting alone for a
provincial bus to Naga City has gone viral and has since drew admirations
from netizens.

The photo, which was taken by the lawmaker’s friend Keisha del Castillo
last December 4, showed a woman waiting alone at a gas station in Magallanes,
Makati City, donned in a striped shirt and denim pants and carrying two
bags.

Del Castillo’s caption for the photo says: “The art of riding the bus to
Naga: if you can’t catch it in Cubao, you can always try to flag it down at
the Magallanes Shell Station. Like Cong. Leni Robredo.”

Robredo, a lawyer and widow of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo,
confirmed that she was the woman in the photo.

In Robredo’s official Facebook account, she explained why she needed to
stake out at a gas station to catch her bus: “Yes, that is definitely me.
Taken by Keisha del Castillo at the Magallanes Shell Station as I was
waiting for my bus last night. Keisha brought me there from McKinley Hill in
Taguig after I delivered my Freedom Speech for FNF. Definitely my worst
angle but can’t resist posting. Nakakatawa lang. Parang nag alsa -balutan at
naglayas ang drama.”

She added that she opted to wait at the gas station because she won’t
make the trip if she decides to go to the bus station in Cubao in Quezon
City.

The photo has been liked by 14, 488 people and has been shared 2,110
times.

Netizens praised the lawmaker for being humble and a good example for
other public officials.

Facebook user Jun Ramirez said “I admire you for being humble, you take
the public transport like majority of the Filipinos. Unlike some of your
peers in Congress who parade their #8 license plate wherever they go.”